Mention scorpion and/or poison and my mind cringes with fear, conjuring up words like sting and death.Yet in the Panamanian jungle, during my book researching trip, our guide Roberto tells a different story.His scorpion tale underscores the value of earth’s creatures.While handling a bunch of bananas, a scorpion stung his hand which gradually went numb as did part of his arm. The numbness lasted about a month and when it eventually abated he noticed he no longer suffered from arthritis in his hands.(In his former life he was a dentist.)Soon after, Roberto realized arthritis had also disappeared in one of his shoulders. Intrigued, he began to research this phenomenon and discovered a clinic in the US that uses controlled bee stings to treat arthritis. His story adds another dimension to a similar tale I heard from our Mexican landladies, seesters, when researching my first book in the Yucatán. While travelling to Japan, both suffered from a severe flare-up of arthritis in their fingers and hands.Seeking immediate relief they visited a local physician who told them the cure for arthritis was in their own back yard in Mexico. He maintained one or two daily shots of 100% agave tequila prevented the inflammatory disease. Considering these two options, a scorpion/bee sting or a shot of 100% agave tequila, my husband and I chose the latter.We endeavour to take this clear medicine as often as possible and….so far, so good.

During our Panamanian jungle explorations, Roberto spied a Bandit Green Poison Dart frog perched atop a fallen log. Bright green and tiny, this amphibian looks like a play toy until its danger is exposed: the neurotoxin released by the frog is muy (very) poisonous. In fact, indigenous people of yesteryear used it for poisoning the tips of their blow darts to paralyze animals when hunting before killing them conventionally. The poison apparently develops from the frogs' diet of mites. When kept in captivity and fed a different diet, the frogs are not poisonous.

A little farther on in our trek, Roberto pointed out a Spiny Palm tree with serious thorns erupting from its trunk.Once again, indigenous tribes who know the jungle’s hidden treasures used these spikes as darts for their blow dart guns. The tips were dipped in poison from the varieties of available Poison Dart frogs. The Palm’s spikes also protected the tree by preventing animals climbing its trunk and choking vines from attaching to it.Jungle flora and fauna are perfect examples of symbiotic relationships.I plan to use these characteristics in a forthcoming novel when my major characters are lost in this environment.Will they or won’t they survive and escape unscathed? Beware the Ides of March!